Blood for Noxus and Life for Ionia
by drawingdisaster
Summary: Oneshot. The story follows Irelia during her darkest moments when the Noxian invaders attacked the Placidium and the important part she played at keeping the citizens safe and the Ionia leaders out of harm so the country could have a chance to recover.
Hello

"They have penetrated our defenses! The Noxians are going to reach the city!"

Irelia flinched, her gaze pinned on the runner's back while he conversed with Karma. She had expected that much, their people were spiritualists and artists, not killers. Their crashing defeat in the hands of the Noxians was hardly a surprise but that didn't lessen her pain at all.

Akali frowns, Soraka lets a scared gasp, Karma's dark complexion turns ashen. Irelia scowls, her eyes traveling among their remaining forces. Only a handful of them are soldiers, the rest of them are regular townsfolk fighting armed with hoes and gardening tools, desperation evident in their eyes.

Her friends are occupied, Soraka is busy healing the wounded and guiding the children to safety, Karma and Akali are arguing about the best available route of escape shooting down possibilities one by one. Her scowl deepens, her gaze taking in the destruction of The Placidium, the damage to Ionia's ever beating heart. She grits her teeth, her floating blades trembling in the air as if mimicking her actions.

Their forces are crippled, their strongholds are lost, burned to the ground, their provisions are running low, their allies have fled chased away by the bloodthirsty invaders. They could barricade themselves inside the city of course, but that would only earn them a few precious days before the smelters came to knock at their door and siege preparations took a lot of time, time that was currently slipping through their fingers.

Surrendering was also not an option, the Noxians would kill them anyway like the dozens of innocent civilians that stumbled on their way. Surrendering according to Noxus was a sign of weakness and Noxus was hell-bent in purging weakness from the world even if that meant purging the world itself.

They are trapped, there are passages hidden under the city, ravenous caverns leading to freedom built for cases like this, but traversing them in a few minutes was impossible, especially considering the amount of elderly and children they would have to evacuate.

She sighs, there are no other options, someone has to be the bait, someone has to sacrifice himself in order to stall for time or everyone is going to die and sure as hell she isn't going to let one of her friends turn into a scapegoat.

"Take the civilians and leave, I will stall them."

Karma pauses, her gaze moving from the Kinkou's eyes to meet Irelia's, her serene mask faltering for just a moment. Soraka is far away searching for lost children among the deserted buildings. Good, that makes things easier for her, that's one less friend she has to see crying.

"No "

Karmas voice is hard carrying an air of authority, she approaches Irelia hurriedly her eyes brimming with determination.

"Stand down Captain, we are going to evacuate the city, the Kinkou will provide us with shelter."

Irelia shakes her head, taking a step back to avoid her friend's embrace. No, she has to avoid touching her no matter what, lest she convinces her that her sacrifice is unnecessary and that will doom them all.

Karma always had a way with words, even when they were little kids playing in the farmlands. Karma could always mesmerize the warrior, change her mind and make her dance to her tune, for her own good most of the time.

Irelia had followed her willingly, absorbing her wisdom like an unlucky beggar dying from thirst before stumbling across a stream. How many nights did they spend together under the stars discussing the secrets of the world or absentmindly watching the stars, sitting in relative silence while sipping a cup of tea?

Soraka joined them sometimes, starring into the night sky with sorrowful eyes, her gaze filled with bitterness and then Karma and she would share a quick glance and they would move closer, capturing the Starchild in a tight embrace before placing a steaming cup of tea in her delicate fingers and Soraka, Soraka would always smile blissfully her previews sorrow completely forgotten, carefully leaning to brush her lips against their own. An intimate gesture conveying her gratitude before starring back into the distant night sky with a beaming smile and a nod as if introducing them to her sisters residing in the stars.

She takes a step back and Karma winches as if she has slapped her, but Irelia just shakes her head, her jade eyes lowering to the ground.

"We can't outrun them, we have elderly and children among us. They are going to follow us into the tunnels and tear us apart like rabid dogs."

"I will negotiate with them, I will convince them to spare us, they gain nothing from slaughtering all of us."

She doesn't even wait for the Enlightened One's response before shaking her head dismissively a bitter smile already forming on her lips.

"They are Noxians, Karma, common sense doesn't apply to them. Not when they can kill and rape and pillage and steal the lives of innocents."

"Your sacrifice won't make much of a difference. There is only one of you and there are thousands of them. They are going to cut you down and get back on our trail before your body even hits the floor. "

"No" Irelia speaks and for a moment Karma can see the specters rising behind her, hundreds of thousands of solemn men and women standing around her precious childhood friend with their hands on her shoulders, their stoic expressions threading between grim and determined. They seem to nod to themselves before fading from existence. They are the spirits of their ancestors, the people that lived and died in these land from the beginning of time until now. The are Ionia.

All of them are leaning now around the young warrior nodding their heads approvingly as if lending her their strength and Karma feels awed and blessed and oh so ashamed of herself because if she has been bestowed the title of the Enlightened One given to her by their people, Irelia is the Heart of Ionia, brave and proud and unyielding crowed by the spirits of the land themselves.

"They won't, I will chop their limbs and separate the heads from their bodies, I will twist their necks and gouge their eyes with my own hands, I will sink my fingernails into their ankles and rip up their throats with my teeth if I have to, but they won't take a single step inside the city as long as I am still alive and breathing, of that I promise you."

She can see Karma's hand rushing to meet her face, but she takes the hit anyway, the look of pain in Karma's eyes hurts way more than the little sting on her cheek ever could.

"Never, never become a monster to defeat one!"

Her gaze is livid, outraged, her dark cheeks are stained with tears, but Irelia ignores her. She turns her head towards the silver bridge serving as an entrance to the city, her eyes spotting the crimson banners shinning in the distance, her eyes narrow, her blade quivers.

"Akali"

She can feel the Kinkou's eyes in the back of her head and she knows that she has the woman's attention even if she chooses to remain silent.

"Take Karma and the rest of our people and lead them into the mountains, there is a hidden passage under the Placidium leading outside of the city. Karma knows how to open the door. I will buy you some time but you will have to hurry."

"No! Irelia I am begging you, come with us, you don't have to do this!"

Karma's shrieks make Akali grimace, but Irelia is smiling, the gentlest of expressions gracing her features. It is a kind smile, the smile of a mother soothing her child after a nightmare. The smile of a big sister first seeing her newborn brother napping in his crib. It is the kind of smile an elderly couple shares knowing that their lives' course has almost reached it's destination. And it is that smile that makes Karma's heart shatter and then suddenly Irelia takes a step forward placing a chaste kiss on the shorter woman's forehead before swiftly turning her back on her.

And Karma, Karma has never been more scared in her life, but then she is tenderly shoved into Akali's arms and the moment ends absurdly and Karma finds herself facing Irelia's back as the warrior walks forward towards the bridge like a lamb to the slaughter.

"NO! IRELIA! THIS ISN'T FUNNY, COME BACK HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

But she doesn't and Akali doesn't ease her grip no matter how much she kicks and screams like she is being gutted and maybe she is, that's why her heart is hurting so much and it feels like she is suffocating.

"IRELIA! IRELIA! STOP, TURN BACK. PLEASE!"

"IRELIA!COME BACK TO ME, PLEASE! I AM BEGGING YOU! PLEASE MY LOVE, I LOVE YOU!"

"PLEASE, PLEASE COME BACK IRELIA! IRELIA! IRREEELIAAA!"

She can see the Noxians now, dressed in green spiked armor marching to meet the lone defender and Akali's grip tightens as Karma's voice finally breaks completely, her screams reduced into heartrending wails as the Kinkou starts dragging her away from the lone warrior and the imminent battlefield. Most of her countrymen follow them crouched, their limbs heavy, gazes pinned on the floor, but not all of them. One of them breaks into a sprint brandishing his hoe as he rushes to stand beside their savior and then another one and another, simple men and women armed with pitchforks and cutlery willingly throwing their lives away in order to protect their loved ones. They stop right next to Irelia observing the Noxians' thunderous march with a look of grim determination and Irelia acknowledges them with a solemn nod and a reserved smile.

The Noxians stop a few feet away from them, snarling and mocking them, spitting on the ground and flinging insults. They laugh at them until Irelia's blade cleaves the nearest of them in half. That shuts them up.

They freeze, their eyes bulging in surprise as she takes a step forward and then another one, her face calm, her movements calculating, bloodied blade gliding behind her back dripping sanguine flowers. Her countrymen mirror her actions marching to their deaths like mindless puppets, only their eyes are different, alive and determined burning with a fire rivaling the radiance of the sun each step setting their hearts alight.

They might have been regular farmers once but the Noxians gathering around the bridge perceive them as giants now, moving to crash their ranks and shatter their bones, led by the black haired she-demon herself.

"B-blood for Noxus"

The nervous murmur coming from a Noxian soldier seems to break the Noxians out of their trance, Irelia casually slits the man's throat, her blade shedding even more blood on the cracked cobblestone floor. She then smiles wickedly.

Blood for Noxus. The Noxians have always had such a crude definition of war, such a mundane catchphrase serving as a justification for the deaths of thousands of innocent townsfolk and defenceless farmers. As if offering their kills to their nation could wash away the blood in their hands and cleanse them from their sins. Disgusting.

Blood for Noxus. It was her blood that was boiling now. What about the tears of the orphans, the wails on the widows' lips, the tragic fate of the innocents that never wanted to harm anyone? What about Karma's wails!

Blood for Noxus. As if they could offer what didn't belong to them to their nation, their service to their country an excuse to quench their thirst for slaughter. She could feel the fury in her brothers' hearts, their hands clenching their weapons in death grips ready to unleash hell upon the mindless savages that so selfishly burned their homes and butchered their families.

Blood for Noxus. She has come up with a phrase herself today, one that suited their cause more than the meaningless slaughter of the Noxian butchers, although equally grim, beautiful words to hide her fangs just like the Noxians.

She smiles, diving into the fray separating souls from bodies, her blades dancing around the battlefield stealing lives in the blink of an eye and she can't help but laugh after seeing the stupefied expressions peeking behind the Noxians' helmets, her battle cry leaving her throat with each new kill as her comrades lunge into the fray themselves throwing themselves against the Noxians with animalistic battle cries.

"Life for Ionia!"

"Life for Ionia!"

"Let your corpses nurture our soil."

And Irelia laughs again, but her eyes are now filled with tears because even though she knows it is impossible she can still hear Karma's raw voice screaming her name from inside the deserted city.

And she can still see Soraka's sisters flaring among the clouds even though it isn't even afternoon, yet.

And because the day is beautiful.

And because she loves Karma and she doesn't want to die, but she has to, so Karma may live.

So she makes a beeline for the enemy commander with a smile on her lips and tears mixing with her blood as the first enemy blade pierces her body.

 **The idea behind the story: Hello, so I was watching an amv and listening to the song in the video and the sound drew my attention, the song was called cold green eyes by station earth, I prefer the amv version, less hollow intro. So anyway the song had a really nice nostalgic feeling and it sounded like the perfect song for a noble sacrificial moment and I had this old draft about a Riven/Irelia story and that reminded me of Irelia's story (since she has green eyes) and how I always wanted to make a tribute to her and her last stand.**

 **So here it is after countless hours of rewriting and deleting useless text. I am not that used in writing tragedy since I am a softy but most of my plots end this way inside my head, ( If you only knew of all the times I killed Vayne or Quinn in Scouts and had Vayne go mad murdering everyone inside the Institute.)**

 **Ok too much talking, tell me if the story made you feel anything through I personally think that it lacked impact but at least I had my moments writing it.**


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